Process for launching and recovery of top-of-vehicle transported watercraft

ABSTRACT

A launching and recovery process for top-of-vehicle transported watercraft in which the watercraft always remains correct side up and which is a true one man operation, even for heavier watercraft. The process is accomplished by means of a relatively short length primary dolly located under the watercraft (that is removed only when the watercraft is floated) and a removable transom dolly. Both dollies are used in conjunction with simple tracks and a single winch. The primary dolly provides a means for ground transport of the watercraft and a means for transporting the watercraft up and down a marine launching ramp. This transport can be either manual or aided by the winch previously mentioned.

United States Patent Fulcher [54] PROCESS FOR LAUNCHING AND RECOVERY OF TOP-OF-VEHICLE TRANSPORTED WATERCRAFT [72] Inventor: Robert Wendell Fulcher, 9202 Wofford Lane, Prince George's County, Md. 20740 221 Filed: July 17, 1970 211 Appl. No.: 55,750

HN'SH INTERMEDIATE 1 1:7

[ 51 July 25,1972

986,153 3/1911 Falvey ..214/38.44X

Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza Assistant ExaminerJohn Mannix Attorney-Walter S. Paw] 57 A ABSTRACT A launching and recovery process for top-of-vehicle transported watercraft in which the watercraft always remains correct side up and which is a true one man operation, even for heavier watercraft. The process is accomplished by means of a relatively short length primary dolly located under the watercraft (that is removed only when the watercraft is floated) and a removable transom dolly. Both dollies are used in conjunction with simple tracks and a single winch. The primary dolly provides a means for ground transport of the watercraft and a means for transporting the watercraft up and down a marine launching ramp. This transport can be either manual or aided by the winch previously mentioned.

1 Claim, 14 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJuL25 I972 FIG. I

SHEET 1 [IF 3 FIG. 2

INTERMEDIATE FINISH INVENTOR PATENTEDJUL 25 I972 SHEET 3 [IF 3 FIG. II

FIG. [2

INVENTOR W z lmzl/uza FIG I?) PROCESS FOR LAUNCHING AND RECOVERY OF TOP- OF-VEHICLE TRANSPORTED WATERCRAFT Disclosed herein is a new process to accomplish the launching and recovery of top-of-vehicle transported water craft. The launching consists of the following four steps: (1) Off vehicle top deployment, (2) Ground transport to a marine launching ramp, (3) Transport down the marine launching ramp, and (4) Preparation for use once water launched. (When the vehicle can be parked at the water's edge, steps 2) and (3) of the launching can be eliminated.) The recovery, which follows water usage of the boat, consists of the converse of the four launching steps and ends with the boat returned to the top of the vehicle.

Prior used top-of-vehicle launching and recovery processes have one or more of the following shortcomings:

1. One end of watercraft must be manually lifted.

2. Watercraft must be rolled over from upside-down position or rotated over bow to stem from upside-down position.

3. No ground transport capability for watercraft or ground transport requiring a significant portion of watercraft weight to be manually held.

4. Not true one man operation for heavier watercraft.

5. Relatively high cost for function being performed.

6. Forward visibility of vehicle driver unduly restricted when inverted watercraft is on top of vehicle.

One object of this invention is to overcome all of the foregoing shortcomings by providing a new process for the launching and recovery. This and other objects will be apparent from the specifications and drawings which follow.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the overall system,

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the system components,

FIGS. 3 and 4 are top andside elevational views respectively of the junction of the vehicle and launching tracks,

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of a flip-down" jack support,

FIG. 6 is a cross-section of the vehicle tracks taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 4,

FIGS. 7 and 8 are top and side views respectively of a typical launching track folding joint,

FIG. 9.is a top view of a folded 3-section launching track,

FIG. 10 is an end view of the launching tracks with a removable roller crossbar attached thereto, 7

FIGS. 11 and 12 are top and end views respectively ofa primary dolly, showing the outlines of a boat thereon, and

FIGS. 13 and 14 are end and side views respectively, of the transom dolly mounted at the aft end of the watercraft.

The system components used to mechanize the new launching and recovery process can be seen schematically in FIGS. 1 and 2, and are a primary dolly l, a transom dolly 2, two launching tracks 3 and cross-bar roller 4, two vehicle tracks 5 (which are bolted to standard commercial vehicle-top carrier bars 6), and a winching loop 7. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the overall system (less boat and transom dolly) being used with a vehicle 8. Here three standard commercial portable jacks 9 are shown for additional support of the foldable launching tracks and the cross-bar roller. These jacks are unnecessary for lightweight watercraft. In FIG. I, when the winching loop is shortened by rotating the crank on the winch 10 (which provides mechanical advantage), the primary dolly proceeds along the ground and up the launching tracks and then along the vehicle tracks until the stops II are reached. Of course, the preceding operation is completely reversible to return the dolly to the ground. It should be noted that the primary dolly on the ground can be freed merely by untying the winching loop rope from the tie point I2 and unthreading this rope from the pulleys 13 of the primary dolly. To completely describe the off vehicle top deployment and the on vehicle top recovery (Step l) of the process being disclosed), it is necessary to add only the boat and transom dolly to the foregoing explanation. This is shown in FIG. 2, a front view of the system operation depicted in FIG. I, which includes the boat 14 and removable transom dolly 2. The transom dolly is clamped to the boat at the outboard motor location by means of a standard commercial C"-clamp. The primary dolly l is attached to the boat by two ropes, which locate the dolly such that the boat center of gravity remains well within its wheels, even when the boat is inclined at the maximum angle associated with launching and recovery. In FIG. 2, three phases of the off vehicle top deployment (designated by Arrow A) and on vehicle top recovery (designated by Arrow B) are depicted. It can be seen here how the cross-bar roller 4 and the transom dolly 2 come. into use. (This is particularly evident in the INTER- MEDlATE'position shown in FIG. 2.) It is also now clear in FIG. 2 (FINISH position) how Steps 2) and (3) of the launching and recovery are accomplished. Once the winching loop rope is untied and the primary dolly is freed, the boat can be pushed (or pulled) along the ground and down or up a marine launching ramp using only the primary dolly. (The transom dolly canbe left attached if desired, of course, or it can be removedatrany time after the primary dolly is fully on the ground. Additionally, an outboard motor can be placed on the boat if the motorweightpermits the center of gravity of theboat and motor combination to stay sufficiently within the wheels of the primary dolly.) Also, the winch 10 shown in FIG. 1 on the vehicle track and the open top pulley 15 on this track can be used to aid inmoving the boat during Steps (2) and (3). Once the boat has been pushed into the water and is free- Iy floating, the primary dolly (which is made so that it has neutral floatation properties) can be untied from the boat and readily floatedaway from the boat. During water use of the boat, the primary dolly can be stored on-board the boat or in a convenient location onshore (for example, in the highway transport (START) position of FIG. 2). After water use, while the boat is stiIIfreely floating, the primary dolly is again floated under the boat and tied into place. In using the launching and recovery process, the primary dolly never needs to be removed from the boat, except when the boat is floated.

Each system component previously mentioned will now be described in more detail, using drawings that employ two different enlarged scales which are obvious in each case by reference back to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIGS. 3-9 concern the tracks. FIG. 6; a cross section of the vehicle tracks taken along the line2-2, is representative of the nominal cross section of all-the tracks. FIG. 5 is a front view of the flip-down" jack support of the launching tracks and is identified as 16 in FIG. 1 also. The arrow indicates how the support folds up for stowage once the large hook 17 is unhooked from its eye. FIGS. 3 and 4 are top and front views, respectively, of the junction of the vehicle and launching tracks. These tracks are completely separable by removing the loose-pin 18 from the standard commercial loose-pin door hinge 19. Also shown is the open top pulley 15 which supports the winching loop at that point. The inner vertical side of the track is trimmed off at the junction to allow the primary dolly l clearance over this portion of its travel. FIGS. 7 and 8 are top and front views, respectively, of atypical launching track folding axis 20 in FIG. 1. The folding occurs along the hinge axis 20 of the standard commercial door hinge 21, once the wing nut and bolt sets 22 and'23 are removed. FIG. 9 is a top view of the folding scheme for the stowage of the launching tracks. FIG. 10 is a view along the launching tracks 3 of the cross-bar roller 4 and shows how the removable bar attaches to the tracks by means of two bolt and wing nut sets 24. FIGS. 11 and 12 are top and end views, respectively, of the primary dolly, with the boat 14 and associated ropes shown in phantom. A key point concerning this component is its relatively short length dimension D whichhas been drawn as approximately one-seventh of the boat length in FIG. 2, in order to satify the geometrical requirements of the system operation depicted in FIG. 2. It is the relatively short length of this dolly which permits the entirenew process being described to function effectively. As seen in FIG. I2, this dolly must be contoured to fit the hull shape of the particular watercraft involved. This does not detract from the generality of this new process, however, since it is only a matter of using the proper hull shape pattern in cutting out this portion of the dolly. The two ropes attaching the primary dolly to the boat are tied at points 25 (eye bolts) and 26 (standard commercial cleats screwed into the boat gunnels) for convenience. The double wheels 27 allow the boat and dolly to be transported over surfaces such as sand. For completeness, the winching loop 7 is shown in FIG. 11 with the associated pulleys 13. FIGS. 13 and 14 show end and front views, respectively, of the transom dolly 2. As can be seen in FIG. 14, removal of the standard commercial C- clamp 28 allows this dolly to be pulled directly away from the boat 14 (again shown in phantom). FIG. 13 illustrates that this dolly, as the primary dolly, must be contour cut to the particular hull shape involved. Double wheels 29 are again employed to allow travel over sandy terrain. As evident by reference to FIG. 2 (INTERMEDIATE position), the separation distance between the two sets of wheels on the transom dolly must be made wide enough to prevent excessive rocking" of the boat when it is supported only by the cross-bar roller 4 and the transom dolly 2.

To complete the explanation of the new process, a total sequence of launching and recovery events follows. The starting point for these events is the boat on top of the vehicle in the highway transport position (START position of FIG. 2) without the launching tracks or the cross-bar roller attached. Launching Events:

a. Launching tracks are unfolded and bolted together to become integral tracks.

b. Launching tracks are attached to vehicle tracks by placing the loose-pins into their hinges.

c. Cross-bar roller is bolted into place.

d. Flip-down jack supports on launching tracks are hooked into place and the three jacks are placed as shown in FIG. 1.

e. Boat is rolled off vehicle tracks as the winching loop is lengthened (or vehicle is parked on incline to provide gravitational roll of the boat as loop is lengthened).

f. Previously described launching process occurs until boat is in water ready for use.

Recovery Events (after water usage):

a. Primary dolly is re-tied to boat while boat is still freely floating and transom dolly is clamped into place at a convenient time prior to on vehicle top recovery.

b. Previously described recovery process occurs until boat is returned to the top of vehicle (START position of FIG. 2

c. The three jacks are removed and the flip-down jack supports are unhooked.

d. Cross-bar roller is unbolted from the launching tracks.

e. Launching tracks are separated from vehicle tracks by removing the two loose-pins from their hinges.

f. Launching track bolts are removed and the tracks are I folded for stowage within the the vehicle.

The invention is not limited to the specific system illustrated, but is intended to cover all equivalents within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

I. A system for launching and recovery of a top-of-vehicle transported watercraft, comprising a removable transom dolly on said watercraft,

a short length primary dolly having attachment means for tying it to the bottom of said watercraft,

a vehicle track mounted on top of said vehicle for receiving said dolly thereon and holding it there during transport, foldable launching tracks having means at one end for attachment thereof to one end of said vehicle tracks and extending therefrom to the ground, and at least one cross-bar roller mounted on said launching tracks in spaced relation between its ends, to receive the keel of said watercraft in the process of its launching or recovery. 

1. A system for launching and recovery of a top-of-vehicle transported watercraft, comprising a removable transom dolly on said watercraft, a short length primary dolly having attachment means for tying it to the bottom of said watercraft, a vehicle track mounted on top of said vehicle for receiving said dolly thereon and holding it there during transport, foldable launching tracks having means at one end for attachment thereof to one end of said vehicle tracks and extending therefrom to the ground, and at least one cross-bar roller mounted on said launching tracks in spaced relation between its ends, to receive the keel of said watercraft in the process of its launching or recovery. 